Although I don’t believe that happiness is of “transitory pleasure”, as Freud describes it, let’s assume I do: I look forward to the day when I fall in love and get married. I imagine myself having a story book fairytale. I imagine that we will be “in love” forever and that we will not fight. I dream of having children who are beautiful, smart, and God fearing individuals. I dream that they will always love the Lord and that I will be the best mom in the world. I dream of traveling the world and living a life of adventure. I want to “be somebody”. I would be happy if I had lots of money, friends, and was never bored. I would also be happy if I had a great job and a beautiful home.
By Freud’s standard, these are the things that would make me happy. But by that same standard, I will never be happy. This is because while all of these things are possibly obtainable, they will not happen the way I see them happening. It’s true that I am not desiring anything that is too extreme, or things that some people don’t have, but there is no way for me to go through life and get all of these things. Life is hard, and doesn’t go as we plan. So what happens to me when I am relying on those things (Perfect marriage, kids, money, etc.) to make me happy, and they don’t happen? I hate to think… Depression, suicide, divorce, poor, broken spirit, lonely, a hermit? While this seems extreme, it happens everyday.
So what is the true meaning of happiness? I believe that happiness is like C. S. Lewis’s description: “ultimate purpose or meaning”. I find happiness to be truth. This is my definition; When I have found truth, I have found happiness. This is because truth brings peace, and peace brings joy, and joy brings happiness in even the toughest situations.
So what is truth? Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Another way of saying it is this: When I have found Jesus Christ, I have found truth, which leads me to peace, which leads me to joy, which leads me to happiness.
I know I’m not directly answering the question, but I’m getting there. I must describe how truth = Christ, because He has already told me the purpose of my life. There is nothing to figure out, guess, or speculate. It is written in the Book that the point of my life is to love and be loved be God. That is why I was created, to have a relationship with Him. Ok, so great, that seems simple right? All I have to do is love God?
The statement above seems simple and like a no brainer, but after looking futher, something else is noticed. What does it mean to love God? I like to think about it like this: When I’m in love with a man, I speak to him everyday, read his love letters that he’s written me and cherish them in my heart, spend time with him, and do the favors that he asks me to do. Why do I do all of this? Because I love him and he does that much and more for me. The same can be related to my relationship with Christ. I speak with him everyday (pray), read his love letters to me (The Bible), spend time with him (Worship), and do the things He asks me to do. Christ didn’t ask us to do too many things, besides behaving correctly and loving Him and others. He said that all other things would follow. But He did give us a very direct command and that is commonly referred to as the Great Commission. He said to go into all the world preaching the Good News.
When I think about my purpose in life, I think about God. I know that I am here to love and be loved. I am also here to tell others about what Jesus did for me and everyone else: I am here to share the Love Story with the world. This is what makes me happy. When I share the life gospel with someone who has never heard the name of Jesus, I am happy. And that happiness is one that doesn’t go away, because it is reaping eternal benefits.
So, when things in life go wrong and not the way I plan/desire them to go, I’m not depressed or suicidal, because there’s a much bigger picture that I am a part of. Also, God promises that if I do the things He asks of me, good things will follow (Jeremiah 29: 11). The more one searches for happiness, the more one finds discontent. The more one searches for Christ, the more one finds happiness.
